CAI Zaragoza remained alive for a spot in the Last 32 with a 90-75 victory at home over Telekom Baskets Bonn in Group A. The 15-point win gives Zaragoza the head-to-head advantage over Bonn, which won the first meeting between the teams 90-88 in Germany. Both teams are 3-5 in the group. Rasko Katic led Zaragoza with 15 points while Henk Norel and Chris Goulding both scored 14 points, Stevan Jelovac had 13 and Marcus Landry added 11 points in the win. Benas Veikalas paced Bonn with 28 points while Angelo Caloiaro was the only other player in double figures for the guests with 16 points.

Katic scored the first 4 points to help Zaragoza open up a 9-2 lead. Eugene Lawrence nailed a three-pointer as Bonn evened the game at 9-9. Pere Tomas and Caloiaro swapped threes before Jelovac completed a four-point play for a 16-12 lead. Goulding converted 4 free throws; 2 foul shots from Norel left the hosts up 22-14. The Dutch big man threw down a dunk as the cushion reache 24-16 after one quarter. Jason Robinson increased the lead in the second quarter with a three-pointer and 2 Norel free throws gave Zaragoza a 29-18 advantage. Veikalas tried to keep Bonn in the game with a three, but Pedro Llompart scored 5 straight points and Joan Sastre’s layup had the hosts up 36-21. A three-point play by Veikalas got the guests to within 38-26 and Lawrence’s free throws cut the deficit to 41-30. But Jelovac converted a three-point play just before the halftime break to give the home side a 48-32 lead.

Caloiaro opened the second half with a three-point play only to see 4 CAI free throws push the margin to 17 points. Caloiaro trimmed the deficit to 52-39, but a Goulding dunk made it 55-41. Veikalas did all he could to get Bonn back in the game, hitting two layup and then a pair of three-pointers before a Tadas Klimavicius layup had the guests to within 59-51. Norel, however, responded with 6 straight points and the gap was 14 again. Two more Norel free throws had Zaragoza up 69-53 and the lead was 69-55 after three quarters. The hosts refused to back down and Landry started the fourth quarter with a dunk. Veikalas’s steal and layup got the deficit to 71-61, but Landry scored 6 more points to push it out to 80-63 with three minutes left. Andrej Mangold’s triple made it a 12-point game, but Landry was again on target from long range and Kevin Lisch hit a layup for an 87-71 cushion inside two minutes.

Head Coaches

RUIZ, JOAQUIN

CAI Zaragoza

"It was a serious game on ourpart. We knew what was at stake, all players responded. I want to congratulate them for that. We reached the goals we set for ourselves. We dished many assists, shared the ball and for that I am happy. My players have been working great. Henk has worked hard and he always wants to play like he did tonight. Pedro also dished many assists and I am happy for him for that. Right now we will celebrate this win, but tomorrow we will think about the next game. There will be time for everything. I liked how we played offense, tried some new moves. And keep on working in defense, which is one of our main weapons."

FISCHER, MATHIAS

Telekom Baskets Bonn

" Congratulations to Zaragoza. They played better today. They won the rebounding battle 41-29. They have an excellent 38% from the three-point line, and they moved the ball very good. We couldn’t stop them inside; we couldn’t stop their shooters, that’s why they deserved to win. My team never gave up, and in the fourth quarter there was a small chance with 6:30 to play. We had two wide-open threes, but could not score them, and CAI scored on the other side and soon went up by 16 points."

Players

NOREL, HENK

CAI Zaragoza

"We are happy about this win, yes. But it's what we had to do. till two games left in the Eurocup, and they are two finals. Everybody in this club is eager to make the Last 32, and this was a first good step. Next, another final in Italy. I think we played well as a team. We defended well, marked the pace during the game, the way it should be. I hope we can continue like this and enjoy ourselves as a team. I had a good game but that's thanks to my teammates, especially Pedro and his assists."

LAWRENCE, EUGENE

Telekom Baskets Bonn

"Zaragoza played a good game. We got behind too far in the first half. It is hard to win on the road when a team scores 32 points from the free throw line. We had a lot of opportunities, but were just not making shots. The key to the game was rebounds, we got outrebounded by 10-15 rebounds."